Filipino Whole30 Eats: Homemade Atchara

Whole30 encourages the eating of fermented, probiotic foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, etc. to enhance the beneficial bacteria in our guts and improve our digestion. Let’s add to the list with a contribution from Filipino cuisine: atchara.

Similar to the Vietnamese do chua but using green papaya instead of daikon radish, atchara is a common side dish in Filipino meals. Restaurants often include them in meal plates or serve them on the side; they are the constant sidekicks to our breakfasts. They provide a refreshing sweet and sour complement to our more savory dishes, such as our grilled pork chops and fried chicken – the way cole slaw does, I suppose, to many an American barbecue.

I would just buy atchara if I could, since it does take a bit of effort to make it, but I haven’t been able to find any store-bought atchara that doesn’t have added sugar (and often other preservatives as well). So I set aside time a couple of weeks ago and went ahead and made my own.

My conclusion: so totally worth it to be able to spoon heaps of the pickled mixture onto my breakfasts. As you may have noticed, it was also part of the meal I prepared for my family Sunday brunch yesterday. And it was a hit; my teenage niece proclaimed that she could eat it on its own as a snack. I could ask for no greater compliment than that!

Translation

Atchara (aht-chah-rah): green papaya and other veggies pickled in vinegar

Ingredients

• 4 cups grated or julienned green papaya (about 1 small papaya; I don’t have a grater, so I just julienned mine)
• 1/4 cup salt + 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 carrot, peeled and grated or julienned
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into long, thin strips
• 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
• 1/2 of a shallot, sliced thinly
• 4-5 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
• 1 oz. raisins
• 1 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup white vinegar (I used cane vinegar)
• 1 20 oz. can of pineapple chunks with juice

Instructions

1. To prepare the green papaya: peel the skin, cut in half, remove the seeds, then cut into long slices. Grate with a box grater, or julienne using a julienne peeler. Or cheat and use a spiralizer or your food processor with the julienne slicer blade. Any way is fine, as long as you end up with strands or noodles of green papaya. The thinner the strand, the better.
2. Place the green papaya strands in a bowl and toss with 1/4 cup of salt. Refrigerate for a least 1 hour. This will draw out the moisture from the papaya.
3. Rinse the papaya thoroughly with water. Drain the water, then wrap batches of the papaya in a cheese cloth (or any clean cloth) and squeeze and twist with all your might to remove as much of the remaining moisture as possible. You want it bone dry to prevent the papaya from turning bitter during the pickling process. (Make no mistake: this is a bit of a forearm workout. But that’s good for you, right?)
4. Put the papaya, carrot, red bell pepper, chopped ginger, sliced shallot, sliced garlic, raisins, and red chili pepper flakes in a large bowl.
5. To prepare the pickling juice: mix the water, vinegar, pineapple juice (squeeze as much of the juice from the pineapple chunks as you can), and 1 teaspoon salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. While the pickling juice is simmering, add the pineapple chunks to your bowl of veggies and mix thoroughly. Then place the mixture inside clean, dry jars.
7. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the pickling juice cool down.
8. When the pickling juice is merely warm and no longer hot, pour into the jars with the veggies, making sure the veggies are completely submerged. (Do not pour it in hot! This will cook the veggies and kill off most of the helpful bacteria that will ferment your atchara.) Close the lids tight.
9. Keep the bottles in your fridge for at least 1 week, preferably longer, to allow the fermentation to take hold.
10. After the waiting period, spoon bunches into your meal plate or in a bowl as a side dish and enjoy!

Makes about 6 cups, or about 12 1/2 cup servings.

How this is Whole30

Virtually all commercially available atchara contains sugar, and most recipes call for heaps of sugar as well. Substituting pineapple juice took care of making this version Whole30 compliant. Plus, the pineapple juice and pulp added sweet-tart notes to the atchara that enhanced the flavor (IMO). 

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